Sigma Alpha Iota

National RECOGNITION et Dalila); she boasted a repertory that also included Mozart's Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Ponchielli's Laura (La Gioconda), and Johann Strauss' Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus). Her portrayal of Bizet's Carmen was a role she performed 124 times at the Met -- one in which she was described as voluptuous, earthy, and white-hot in her alternating moods of passion and anger. Millions more fell in love with Stevens through her frequent radio appearances and through the films The Chocolate Soldier (1941) with Nelson Eddy and Going My Way (1944) with Bing Crosby. She appeared often on such early television programs as The Voice of Firestone and The Ed Sullivan Show, where she sang both operatic and popular songs. She also appeared on one of the first Met telecasts singing Carmen (1952) opposite leading American tenor Richard Tucker as Don José. On June 8, 1947, she was initiated as an Honorary Member by the Zeta Chapter at Butler University. She often is credited not only for saving the day at more than one performance of the Metropolitan Opera but also for saving the company's 1961 season. After the company had canceled its entire 1961-62 schedule due to stalled labor negotiations, a persuasive telegram from Stevens convinced President Kennedy to intervene, and he ordered the Secretary of Labor to arbitrate the dispute. Just three weeks later, the entire season was reinstated on schedule. President Kennedy and the nation had been devoted fans of the Met's reigning mezzo for nearly a quarter of a century. Following 353 Met performances, Stevens retired from her role as a Met performer in 1961. In 1964, she inaugurated the Music Theater of Lincoln Center as Anna in a revival of The King and I, produced by Richard Rodgers. She assumed several important roles in developing the future of opera in the United States. She was named co-director of the Met's newly created National Company (1964), which was dedicated to taking opera on tour to dozens of American cities where opera was not available and, for two seasons, provided many young singers their first chance to perform professionally on the opera stage. She also served as president of the Mannes College of Music (1975-78) and rejoined the Met as Advisor on the Young Artist Development Program and Executive Director of its National Council Auditions (1980-88). For her numerous activities "in the discovery, training, and championing of young American singers," Stevens was honored by the National Opera Institute (1982) and by the Kennedy Center (1990). NEA Lifetime Opera Honors John Conklin stage designer   Speight Jenkins general director Risë Stevens mezzo-soprano   Robert Ward composer   Robert Kolt SAI National Arts Associate Robert Ward Robert Ward Biography Born in Cleveland on September 13, 1917, Robert Eugene Ward is respected and admired for his career as an American composer, conductor, administrator, educator, and publishing executive. In his youth, he studied theory, orchestration, and piano, and began composing in high school. His early musical influences included Debussy, Ravel, Hindemith, Stravinsky, and jazz. He studied composition with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers at the Eastman School of Music (1935-39). His postgraduate study included composition with Frederick Jacobi and conducting with Albert Stoessel and Edgar Schenkman at the Juilliard School (1939-41). Additional studies in composition occurred with Aaron Copland at the Tanglewood Music Festival (1940). Ward served as a United States Army band director (1942-46) during World War II, and it was while serving in the Pacific theater of operations that he met Mary Benedict, his wife of sixty-two years with whom he had five children. Upon his return to the United States in 1946, Ward earned his Artist Certificate from Juilliard and also gained a teaching position at that institution (1947-56), and at Columbia University (1946-58). During this time, Ward also served as the director of the Third Street Music Settlement (1952-55). He left Juilliard to become executive vicepresident and managing editor of Galaxy Music Corporation and Highgate Press (1956-67), posts he held until his appointment as chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts (196774). In 1974, Ward stepped down as chancellor to become a professor. From 1979 until his retirement in 1989, he was a music professor at Duke University. Even as a student, Ward had no difficulty securing performances for his compositions. By the time he and his Juilliard colleague Bernard Stambler wrote their first opera, he was already well known for his orchestral works. Pantaloon (1955, re-titled He Who Gets Slapped, 1959) was well received, leading to a commission from the New York City Opera for The Crucible (1961). His compositions include eight operas, seven symphonies, three concerti, numerous shorter works for orchestra, music for wind ensemble, compositions for a variety of instrumental chamber groups, two cantata, and various genres for vocal ensembles, and songs for solo voice with accompaniment. His compositional language in opera derives largely from Italian composers Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. In his operas, Ward modifies this basic style to incorporate references to appropriate local color, such as the imitations of 17th-century hymnody that appear in The Crucible. His operas, as well as many shorter vocal works, reflect a concern for social and political issues of the times as well as his interpretation of American idealism. Ward was awarded three Guggenheim Fellowships (1950, 19541, and 1966), and for his opera The Crucible (1961), he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music (1962) and the New York Music Critics' Circle Citation Award (1962). He served as a Composer-Judge at the 1997 National Convention in Denver, where his work Under the Big Sky was premiered. The SAI Philanthropies, Inc. Board of Directors initiated Ward as a National Arts Associate on August 1, 1997. CLICK FOR MORE To learn more about NEA Opera Honors, visit http://www.nea.gov/news/news11/ New-NEA-Lifetime-Honorees.html sai-national.org SUMMER 2011 PAN PIPES 7

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